Wednesday, October 05, 2011

How About More Ice Cream?

Here's a rule of thumb: if you're doing it right, every 2-year-old art project involving paint, winds up as finger painting. I sometimes forget to tell our parent-teachers this and instead of seeing it as a sign of success, they're worried somehow that they've failed, looking sheepishly at me as I wander by, saying something like, "I'm sorry, but it just happened."

The idea for this project is to stick a piece of paper inside the coffee can, spoon in some marbles that have been sitting in paint, put the lid on, then shake and roll the can for anywhere from 2 seconds to forever. These produce the kind of accidental art that cause parents to remark, as Audrey's mom Jaimee did yesterday, "I might have to frame some of these."

For their part, however, the children, especially 2-year-olds, are largely uninterested in what's on the paper at the end of their process, usually staring at it as if you're showing them the napkin you used to wipe their face after eating a sundae. Yeah, I made that, but how about more ice cream?

Said "ice cream" being to spoon as many paint-covered marbles as possible into your can.

Putting the lid on. Shaking it; rolling it. Taking the lid off.

I value allowing children to struggle with things, often urging parent-teachers to help the

children less. When this photo first came off of my camera, I was slightly annoyed to see

that adult hand holding the can while she tried to pull of the lid. Then I took a closer look

and realized it was my hand. I don't even remember doing it. It's amazing how much we

have to concentrate in order to avoid over-helping these perfectly competent human beings.

Dumping the marbles out. Looking inside. Asking for more paint. More marbles. Always forgetting about the paper . . .

. . . and, naturally, perhaps a little trepidatiously at first . . .

. . . turning it into finger painting.

Success!

Now that's suitable for framing! . . . Ah! One got away!

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I love that it was your hand and your comment that followed. I have to stop myself so many times during the day and I'm sure there are many more times that I don't stop myself. This is a wonderful idea. I'll have to put this in front of the toddlers who let me hang out with them.

The process of this art sounds like a lot of fun. I agree with you about letting kids struggle to succeed and stepping in less. It is hard to watch them struggle sometimes, but the day they finally succeed it's so wonderful.

This is wonderful. Of course, I think everything you write is wonderful, but that's because you just "get it"- about children, and how they learn, and what's important.

I also appreciate your self reflection. It is just so darn easy to fall into "helping" behavior without realizing it. For me it's a constant process of forgetting or acting unconsciously, and then remembering again. (What I appreciate about toddlers is that if I forget, they are often very good at helping me to remember how competent they are- "I do it myself!")

And about the marble painting- what a perfect "art project" for toddlers. For them it's all about the process, never about the product. I was explaining this to a colleague this past weekend when she was asking me about appropriate art projects for toddlers. I said I thought the opportunity to "mess around" with the materials was the most important aspect of providing "art" experiences for toddlers.Thanks for a great example!

I actually clicked here to write a comment for the first time, after about a year of following your blog, because I wanted to comment on your realization that YOU were the adult helping, it just made me smile! I was also delighted to read that many of us enjoyed reading about this same thing....maybe it's like a child hearing from an adult, "I've made a mistake." and loving it...because, we are afterall, only human! ;-)

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This is my personal blog and is not a publication of the Woodland Park Cooperative Preschools. I put a lot of time and effort into it. If you'd like to support me please consider a small contribution to the cause. Thank you!

About Teacher Tom

I am a preschool teacher, writer, speaker, artist and the author of "A Parent's Guide To Seattle".
For the past 15 years, I've taught preschool at the Woodland Park Cooperative School. The children come to us as 2-year-olds in diapers and leave as "sophisticated" 5-year-olds ready for kindergarten.
The cooperative school model allows me to work very closely with families in a true community setting.
I intend to teach at Woodland Park for the rest of my life. I love the kids and I love the families. It's an incredibly rewarding job.